Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, applauded today’s report, released by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.  The report, which details the gross human rights abuses being carried out by the North Korea regime, is the Commission’s first report.  Chairman Royce wrote to the State Department in 2013 urging it to support the Commission's creation.

Chairman Royce said:  “I applaud the clear-eyed account that this report provides and the Commission’s commitment to draw attention to North Korea’s human rights horrors.  North Korea is the world’s most oppressive dictatorship and this report gives unprecedented detail on the Kim regime’s brutality.  This international attention is long overdue. 

"I've long argued that U.S. policy toward North Korea must include a strong human rights focus.  This report helps build that case."

The situation in North Korea continues to be one of the worst human rights and humanitarian disasters in the world.  While millions starve or suffer from severe malnutrition, the regime continues to spend billions of dollars on its nuclear and missile programs.  At any given time, approximately 200,000 people are subjected to forced labor, torture, and starvation in North Korea’s gulags.  It is estimated that more than 400,000 people have died in this system in the last 30 years.

Note:  Last year, the Chairman met with the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.  Royce, co-chairman of the International Parliamentarians Coalition for North Korean Refugees and Human Rights, has long worked to highlight the deplorable human rights conditions in North Korea.  Royce has led the effort to incorporate human rights into U.S. policy toward North Korea.  He authored legislation to increase radio broadcasting into North Korea to counter the Kim regime’s propaganda.

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